Jim Wilson

IMO’s Legal Committee has finalized a new set of guidelines to ensure seafarers are protected against unfair treatment if detained in foreign jurisdictions on suspicion of committing a crime. The fair treatment of seafarers was high on the agenda of the Legal Committee’s 111st session, which took place from 22 to 26 April at IMO...

IMO’s “TEST Biofouling” project to tackle the transfer of invasive species via ship’s hulls will extend beyond its original terms after the IMO and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation signed a no-cost extension. The project will be extended until 31 December 2026. The TEST Biofouling project reports that “scientific research is increasingly showing that...

Bullying, abuse, perceptions for the potential for harassment, isolation, prejudices, limited access to vocational education / training and employment difficulties are some of the difficulties faced by Chinese female seafarers, researchers at Dalian Maritime University, China, have revealed. Although noting that there has been “tangible progress toward gender diversity and inclusiveness, researchers Wenyu Lyu and...

AET, a Malaysian tanker operator has announced that it has entered into two time charters with PETCO Trading, a wholly owned subsidiary of PETRONAS, the Malaysian state energy company, for two ammonia-powered dual-fuel Aframaxes. An “aframax” is an oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 tonnes. AET also signed shipbuilding contracts with Dalian Shipbuilding...

An anti-modern slavery event was held in Wollongong earlier this week, at the Bluescope Steel Visitor Centre at Port Kembla earlier this week, at which Shipping Australia attended. The event featured guest speaker Dr James Cockayne, NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner. Dr Cockayne is the first commissioner appointed to the role on a full-time basis; his 5-year...

Accurate verified gross mass (VGM) plays a critical role in ensuring containerships are loaded safely and that containers can be reliably secured. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) would like to ensure shippers of containers are accurately measuring VGM through one of the two accepted methods, and that VGM is accurately and reliably recorded on...

On 13 April 2024, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp fast-roped from a helicopter to seize a container ship, the MSC Aries, approximately 15 nautical miles northwest of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, and then diverted the vessel into Iranian territorial waters. The International Chamber of Shipping released the following statement: The International Chamber of...

A joint industry open letter has been sent to the United Nations Secretary General – His Excellency Antonio Guterres – calling for assistance following the seizure of the MSC Aries on Saturday 13 April. 16 maritime industry associations and social partners (ASA, BIMCO, CLIA, ECSA, INTERCARGO, INTERMANAGER, INTERTANKO, IAPH, ICS, IFSMA, IMCA, IMEC, IPTA, ITF,...

By Alessandro Toffoli; Professor in Ocean Engineering, The University of Melbourne This article was originally published in The Conversation and via the University of Melbourne. We used three-dimensional imaging of ocean waves to capture freakish seas that produce a notorious phenomenon known as rogue waves. Our results are now published in Physical Review Letters*. Rogue waves are...

Current weather forecasts for the Panama Canal area indicate steady rainfall from late April that will last for “a few months”, allowing the Panama Canal Authority to normalise conditions by 2025, the Authority has said. However, it warned, normalisation is dependent on the forecasts. If the volume of rain falls short of expectations, then there...